Executive Director, Discount Planning & Optimization

CVS Health•Woonsocket, RI

18h•$131,500 - $303,195

About The Position

The Executive Director, Discount Planning & Optimization is a leadership role responsible for driving profitable growth, margin performance, and customer value perception across CVS Health’s front store through disciplined discount strategy. This role is a key leader in CVS Health’s Price & Value transformation journey, shaping how total discounts—including promotions and coupons—are planned, optimized, and executed at scale. Working across multiple stakeholders, the role embeds analytics, test‑and‑learn discipline, and margin accountability into everyday business decision‑making, ensuring discounts are both compelling for customers and financially sustainable.

Requirements

15+ years of experience in consulting, retail strategy, pricing, promotions, coupons, merchandising analytics
Proven success driving profitable growth through discount and coupon optimization
Strong financial acumen with demonstrated margin accountability
Track record of leading complex, cross-functional initiatives in matrixed organizations
Experience developing and advancing high-potential talent
Executive presence with the ability to translate complexity into clear action
Proven track record of influencing others with and without authority
Bachelor’s degree required

Nice To Haves

Experience working for a Fortune 20 company or working in retail field, or retail pharmacy company
Experience working as a strong merchant, managing a P&L preferred
Master’s degree preferred

Responsibilities

Lead front store discount optimization across promotions and coupons, identifying trip-driving behavior, basket expansion, and cross-category halo effects.
Own weekly advertised discount performance, including category-level offers, branded and funded discounts, and personalized coupon strategies.
Optimize discount depth, targeting, frequency, and mechanics to drive incremental trips and sales while protecting margin.
Establish robust frameworks to measure true incrementality, elasticity, breakage, and ROI, including funded vs. unfunded discount value.
Partner with analytics and data science teams to strengthen forecasting accuracy, optimization tools, and decision models at scale.
Set the strategic direction for front store discount planning across weekly circulars, digital channels, personalized and loyalty discount vehicles.
Lead the design and execution of front store trip-driving discount strategies that increase traffic, conversion, and total basket size.
Drive cross-functional coordination across Merchandising, Pricing, Marketing, Digital, Loyalty, IT, and Operations to ensure discounts are customer-centric, sales and margin accretive, and aligned to long-term strategy.
Ensure strong end-to-end execution and continuous improvement of discount effectiveness and customer experience.
Own a Discount, Price & Value growth agenda as part of a broader front store transformation.
Balance compelling customer value with disciplined margin ownership and investment governance.
Identify, test, and scale high-ROI discount strategies that deliver sustainable profitability.
Partner closely with Finance and senior enterprise leadership to manage discount investment trade-offs, margin recovery opportunities, and reinvestment strategies.
Translate complex analytics into clear, enterprise-aligned recommendations guiding both strategy and execution.
Embed deep customer insight into all discount, pricing, and value strategies.
Partner with category leaders to tailor discount approaches aligned to category role, competitive dynamics, and growth objectives.
Drive a disciplined test-and-learn culture, ensuring insights are translated into scalable actions and consistent store-level execution.
Build, mentor, and sponsor high-potential talent, creating strong leadership bench strength and succession readiness.
Foster an inclusive, high-performing team culture grounded in analytical rigor, enterprise thinking, and collaboration.
Develop future leaders capable of operating across customer, category, margin, and executional dimensions.